Seeing the sights of southern seas

Tucked away in small towns throughout Otago and Southland are the keepers of the community’s history. Today, David Loughrey visits Bluff.

The Bluff Maritime Museum sits right up against the town’s busy port, in prime position among the activities it reflects.

• A taste of a bygone era 

The museum features the background of industries from whaling to oystering, looks at the sometimes dark stories of ships that have foundered in dangerous waters off the coast, and delves into the history of town’s people.

The Centre Island lighthouse lens take pride of place inside the museum doors, its array of prisms casting light inside.

The light falls nearby on one of a number of serious-looking (though undoubtedly now safe) munitions from HMNZS Southland.

The Leander-class frigate was an early 1960s vessel, originally HMS Dido, but later transferred to the Royal New Zealand Navy and renamed.

Her service included exercises, ceremonial activities and maritime rescues. In 1992 the vessel was part of a joint Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry/police operation against paua poachers based in Bluff. In 1995, HMNZS Southland was towed to the Philippines to be broken up.

There are a variety of items from the vessel, but a prominent one is the slightly alarming solid-fuelled Ikara torpedo-carrying missile.

Looking like a small rocket ship, the anti-submarine missile was controlled via radio and designed to carry a torpedo to a position above a submarine in all weather.

It allowed fast-reaction attacks against submarines at ranges that would otherwise require the launching ship to close for attack, placing itself at risk.

The torpedo would drop on a parachute into the water while the missile would carry on before splashing down.

They could be used when the weather was not suitable for torpedo drops from helicopters.

Whaling was an important industry in the South in the 19th century, with three stations at Bluff alone.

The main whaling station was established in 1836 at Stirling Point, and was owned by whaling magnate Johnny Jones of Waikouaiti.

The museum includes a variety of harpoons, whaling boat oars and other implements of the time.

One feature of the museum that allows the visitor to get a good sense of life at sea is the oyster boat Monica, sitting outside the museum.

Monica originally worked as a steamer in the bays of Banks Peninsula from 1910 to 1920. She was brought to Bluff in 1937, and in 1947 her engines were replaced by two 165 BHP Grey Marine diesels, after which she became the fastest boat in the Bluff fleet.

The vessel was donated as a permanent display to the museum in 1998. The deck of the vessel gives a good idea of the working conditions of crew at the time it was in service, and below deck the cramped conditions are something to behold.

Bluff Maritime Museum curator Trish Birch said the oyster fleet had changed much from the sailing vessels that used to ply the waters with rope dredges when oystering first started at Stewart Island.

She said the museum attracted plenty of New Zealanders from the North Island, Pacific groups, and schools from throughout Southland and Otago.

"I always ask if they enjoyed their visit, and it’s always a yes."